ANIA AND FOZY BEAR

(This is the final picture after Ania worked on it more-- it's beautiful!)

I met a new friend before the Peke Picnic. Her name is Ania. I met her through emails, but then I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at the Peke Fun Day 2010 in N.Va. Ania had written me about a Peke she found near her home and she needed help. Here's Ania and her friend and their dogs.
Here is her story from her blog Click here: Pure Emotions in Art - Ania's Style! (You can see her blog for the full story, I'll give a shortened version of it here.)" About two weeks ago, my boyfriend Steve and I saw this little Pekingese dog wandering the streets around 9:30pm near our house. Neither one of us is a small-dog person, but this little guy stole our hearts from the start! As soon as I picked him up from the street, he cuddled up to me. He must have felt that we weren't going to harm him because he was totally relaxed with us. AND he was NOT afraid of any of our dogs!!! We started to call him "fuzzy" because of his hair, but he needed a real name so he became "Fozy Bear," from the Muppets. Fozy had a wonderful personality. He was into everything, wanted to be wherever we were, loved going for walks with the other dogs (all four of them), and he was not afraid of anything, even the vacuum! When I brushed him, he fell asleep in my arms and he snored!! It was so cute!!! We decided that if we couldn't find his owner, we would adopt him ourselves!!! He was going to be our little boy............

We looked for his owner, checked him for a microchip and posted flyers. Started getting some strange calls from people who wanted a free dog and laying about owning him. One person kept calling back, but could not provide definite proof that this was her dog and the situation got pretty uncomfortable...... We tried several different approaches to figure out if indeed this person was the owner (she kept calling, etc...) , and finally, with the help of the police department, the situation got resolved.... It turned out that Fozy did belong to this person (she is a "BACK-YARD BREEDER" and he is her STUD!!!!!!). Unfortunately, the way everything was handled by the owner was very nasty and caused us a great deal of stress and anxiety.... So, with extremely heavy hearts, we returned "our little boy"to his owner.... To settle my aching heart, I created Fozy Bear's portrait.

Ania (on the right) brought Fozy's picture to the picnic. She wanted it to be used to raise money for our club. Essie, one of our foster moms, fell in love with the picture!! And SHE WON IT in the Chinese Auction. Ania also gave me a print of Fozy's painting-- it sits on my desk where I can see it everyday and remember again that he had a purpose in Ania's life that will continue on.

You can see another portrait that Ania did of one of our adopted dogs, Chien-Chien on her blog: http://aniammiloartwork.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-peke-portrait-i-just-cant-get.html

Fozy Bear began a love for the Pekingese breed in Ania. She now has a sales page where you can order prints and set up commissions for dog portraits. Check it out!!!! http://aniasartworkforsale.blogspot.com/ Ania will donate part of her profits to our club to help our foster dogs!

Ania wrote a poem for Fozy. Here it is:

Change of (my) Heart(For Fozy Bear)

You rushed through my life like a little hurricane

And as you entered my home

You affected everything

Especially my heart....

You were a non-stop bundle of energy

That knew no fear and would not be intimidated by anything.

Your curiosity and tenacity had no end

And with the heart of a lion, you fought for my affection

But I was just as determined to keep my heart closed to you
Even your bright, intelligent eyes would not change my mind....

However, when you looked up at me with those brilliant eyes

And asked me to take you into my arms

Then cuddling to me and snorting softy, you fell quietly asleep
I had no more strength to resist you...

Holding you close to me,
I felt my barriers fall away, and as

My heart filled with much joy

I knew that I wanted to keep you forever.....

Yet you were not meant to stay......

And in a lightning flash of an angry storm,

You were gone.

But, as you were taken away from me

A piece of my heart broke away to follow you

To keep you safe...

Without you now, I am saddened and

I wonder if you even remember me.

At the same time, I am very glad you were here,
If just for a brief time, because while you were with me,

You left your paw prints all over my heart.

And now my heart is changed forever....

Ania

c 2010

ANIA, THANK YOU FOR SHARING FOZY BEAR WITH US. WE LOVE HIM, TOO. HE HAD A PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE AND YOUR LOVE FOR HIM WILL REMAIN WITH HIM. THEY DON'T FORGET THOSE WHO LOVE THEM.
Linda